Before entire networks were built on populist personalities, the masses fixated on a single, small-screen star: controversial talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr. Ironbound Films’ "Évocateur" dissects the mind and motivation of the 1980s’ most notorious agitator. Through never-before-seen footage, Heavy Metal-style animation, and interviews with Mort’s friends, colleagues, guests, and fans, "Évocateur" is a rollercoaster ride through Downey’s euphoric ascent to fame and nauseating plummet to infamy.

"When the three-headed directing monster of Ironbound Films was in high school, all three heads were rabid for Morton Downey, Jr. Video even exists of one of us dressed up like Curtis Sliwa to guest star on a pathetic, make-believe version of the show created with friends. Our mutual love for Downey was revealed before a hotel TV in New Delhi after a long day’s shoot for our PBS documentary "The New Recruits." Working so many months on a film about solving global poverty, our minds clearly sought refuge in a time when opinions were represented as wrestlers and our way of thinking simply went to the victor. After an exhaustive search for the Downey show masters, we finally got a meeting with media titan Bob Pittman. He created not only “The Morton Downey Jr. Show,” but also MTV. We poured out our souls to him in a lofty midtown conference room. He handed over the keys to a storage facility in New Jersey. Inside were the tapes." -- Daniel A. Miller